Taxi with ‘dangerous part’ removed from Aylesbury’s roads during operation in which nine out of ten vehicles were found to have committed a licensing offence

Neil Shefferd

A taxi check operation across Aylesbury Vale saw 32 out of 36 vehicles checked found to have committed a licensing offence - with one deemed unfit for the road because of a sharp edge sticking out of its bumper.

The Road Safety Officer for Bucks stopped private hire vehicles around Aylesbury, Wendover and Stoke Mandeville as part of the operation on Friday May 20.

On the vehicle with the dangerous part a district council spokesman said: “It had to be removed from the road because a sharp edge was coming through the rear bumper.

“The vehicle is being repaired and once it has been re-checked and is deemed safe it will return to the road.”

A total of 36 vehicles were stopped and checked for defects by the Road Safety officer, and to establish the correct driving licence and insurance with the licensing officers from the district council checking the drivers for correct taxi documentation.

One driver was not insured under the restrictions on the insurance and received a fixed penalty notice for six points and £300 fine.

Offences included drivers not wearing ID badges and not displaying correct vehicle signage.

Drivers were given taxi enforcement points and 14 days in which to rectify the defect or face further action.

A district council spokesman added that there were likely to be ‘more frequent checks’ because of the high number of vehicles where issues were identified.

PC Liz Johnson of Roads Policing said: “The operation was a success, we checked a good number of private hire vehicles to ensure the public are safe when using them.”